THIS WEEKEND’S GAMES:
FRIDAY – La Crosse @ North Iowa, 7:30 p.m.
SATURDAY – La Crosse @ North Iowa, 7:30 p.m.
La CROSSE FREEZE, 34-8-1-0 (ROSTER, STATS)
@ NORTH IOWA BULLS, 35-4-2-2 (ROSTER, STATS)
COVERAGE: HockeyTV (video/$), Mixlr (audio/free)
BULLS VS. La CROSSE ALL-TIME: 20-2-0
THIS WEEKEND’S PROMOTIONS: For Saturday’s home game, the Bulls celebrate Dr. Seuss Night, with guest appearances from The Grinch and The Cat in the Hat. The players have spent the week leading up to the game reading to Mason City Elementary classes to celebrate Read Across America Week.
THE QUARTER-CENTURY MARK: Colin Cain is just one win away from breaking the franchise record for the most wins in a single season, coming into the weekend with 25 wins to his credit in 2017-18 in one of the most dominant seasons in franchise history. No Bulls goaltender has ever won more than 25 contests in a single regular season.
LOCKED UP: By the time Friday’s games are done, the Central Division playoff pairings may well be locked up. North Iowa merely needs one win to put away its sixth consecutive division championship, sticking the Freeze with the number-two seed. At the bottom of the division race, the Wausau RiverWolves come into the week seven points ahead of the Ice Hawks, with eight available points left for Rochester. A single Wausau win or Rochester loss puts the RiverWolves into the playoffs as the fourth seed in their first NA3HL campaign.
PAST MEETS PRESENT: The Bulls will play La Crosse on home ice in Mason City this weekend for the first time since a 2-0 loss on January 13 – that shutout loss snapped a 34-game point streak for the Bulls, and also marked the first shutout loss at home in franchise history, ending a string of 157 consecutive home games in the North Iowa Ice Arena with at least one Bulls goal on the scoreboard. Second-year Freeze goalie Will Graves has two of the three shutout wins all-time against North Iowa.
MEDIA NOTES: